Shrutin N Shetty

CrystalPlanet - A Possible Cause of Power Bank Fires

A power bank charging a mobile phone. Pic: source Given the random exploding or catching of fire of power banks on flights, airlines have either banned or restricted the carrying of power banks to hand luggage only. According to an interesting article by Andrew Hirst in 2021, there were about 340 lithium battery related incidents on flights (presumably in the US only?) between January 2006 and…

CrystalPlanet - Leopard 2 Tanks and the Irony

I can’t seem to get over the irony of how once upon a time, Russian tanks helped turn the fate of a world war against invading Germany..; to current times where multiple European countries are now sending German-made (Leopard 2) tanks to Ukraine to help save it from the invading Russians.   Somewhere between these two events, we humans forgot our history and lost the plot. German Leopard 2 tank,…

CrystalPlanet - On Seeking Advice

Image: source When seeking advice, especially from someone you believe can offer great perspective, stick to gaining clarity on the big questions you need help figuring out. The advice you receive is obviously for you to consider, not to blindly implement. And especially not for you to defend when receiving it. Clarify if you think something was misunderstood. I have observed a good number of…

Crystal Planet - Helmets from Scallop Shells

A lot of you probably love scallops?! [controls drool]. Now, imagine scallop shells that are thrown away after we’ve had the good stuff. Then, imagine 40000 tons of scallop shells thrown away! That is the quantity of discarded scallop shells the island of Hokkaido in Japan sees each year! Just left there, the shells would contaminate the soil. So a creative team from TBWA\Hakuhodo and an…

A cool feature I came across on a website, that is highly recommended especially for product companies that have a large and evolving portfolio. #servicedesign #userexperience #b2c #b2b #shorts

Crystal Planet - Earth vs Bezos' Trillion

When the population of animals or insects in a region grows substantially and causes damage, we call it an infestation. Yet we humans have never looked at it the same way when it comes to ourselves, on how we grow and expand to displace and occupy forests, oceans, plant and animal territory. And that concern is worsened multi-fold when public figures like Jeff Bezos say things like he did around…

Crystal Planet - Product Design should factor Human Forgetfulness

Product design should factor for human forgetfulness where possible. This is a picture of the detergent tray from a leading brand, top-loading washing machine. The hole in the tray is where detergent, mixed with water, drips into the drum during a wash cycle. However, when the tray is opened to fill detergent, you notice it slopes downward. This is understandable from a manufacturer’s…

Crystal Planet - An Indian Survivorship Bias Example

Many of you must have seen that drawing of a World War II plane with red dots on it. It explains Survivorship bias, a bias that statistician Abraham Wald figured out. Pic: source Simply put, survivor bias is our tendency to view a situation or pattern as a comprehensive representative sample, often without considering what might be missing from that picture. For instance, the WWII plane with red…

Crystal Planet - Product Design Inputs for a Standing Desk

Invisible Bed has been an interesting product company. As a recent owner of a wall mounted sit/ stand desk, I recently shared some product design inputs with the CEO. They were well received. The Product: The Challenge: 1.Pre-attached table-top – makes installation a challenge even for a 2-person team, as the table-top weight causes the swing-arms to open What I would do instead: Keep the…

Crystal Planet - Everything as a Service

Pic: source   Over the past decade, the business world has had a real attraction to making everything a service. And rightly so. Would you rather struggle to repeatedly sell your product to the same customer? Or would it be better to offer it on a subscription model where you can keep improving it over time, and charge users a regular fee for using it? From furniture and tech products to cars,…

Crystal Planet - Could Musical Roads address Global Speeding and Road Safety

There are roads in Hungary that plays music! A musical road was first created in 1995 Denmark, by two artists. Given how brilliant a concept, I wonder why its Danish origins seem almost obvious. Just like the concept of hygge and especially Lego. Musical roads also exist in other countries like Hungary, Japan, South Korea, the United States, China, Iran, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Many of these are…

Crystal Planet - How About a Mass Behavioural Improvement before India's 100th Independence Day

  The beautiful tri-colour waving at Connaught Place, Central Park, Delhi. It’s 75 years since India got Independence! A proud milestone for all of us Indians. Also one to reflect on and carefully choose the path forward. I happened to read a 75th Independence Day post on Instagram a short while ago, that took a crude jab at the Brits. What I found amusing is I believe it captures a common trait…

CrystalPlanet: Mobile Apps and Habits

Pic: d Pic: source If you are trying to create a new habit or trying to use a mobile app more regularly, you would obviously have better luck if you placed the app on the Favourites row. It could be a planner app, an e-book reader, a food-tracking or exercise app, or whatever else. But it is possible that row is limited and filled with other important apps like the caller app, browser, camera,…

CrystalPlanet - The Hostile World for Women

Pic: source   The men among you might be able to relate to this.   Think of the last time you attended a conference or had to commute for a duration of over 30 minutes. And rather than drive or take a bus or train, you Uber or Ola it there and back.   How often might you have dozed off in the cab?   I have on plenty of occasions.   Doing so is probably not too safe even for us men. But…

Crystal Planet - Heel Rollers - Not a great Design

Image: source   Heel rollers, heel wheel skates, or heel wheels, have a fundamental flaw in their design.   If we humans were to pick between standing for a minute on the front section of our feet or the heels of our feet, odds are we would be more comfortable on the front section. The heels generally bear most of our body weight. But if our weight is channeled only to the heels, they seem to…

CrystalPlanet: Plastic Diet

Since plastic is pretty much an inescapable part of our diets now, and since we humans are inclined to prefer selling/buying a solution rather than inconveniencing ourselves with rollbacks or preventive efforts, my prediction for big pharma is that their next big offering will be pills (or some other form) of supplements to help digest that plastic. Bon Appétit An old, related post: Choosing a…

CrystalPlanet - How the Future of Text Content Should Be

Pic: source As our attention spans go from low to almost non-existent in an increasingly noisy world, I get especially wary whenever I need to read a verbose report. Especially ones with unusually large paragraphs. You know it might be important, but just the way it is structured makes it very difficult to read to the end. Not to mention all those hours of sleep you missed over the years seems to…